Writer, editor, etc.

Category: sharing

I always have a number of books on the go for one reason or another. Why not share?

Fiction: At the moment, I’m reading superhero comic books (gee, I wonder why?) and I’m mostly making use of my Marvel Unlimited account. (It’s a bargain, providing access to almost all of Marvel’s backlist for only $69 (U.S.) a year!) Right now I’m working through November 2014, so that means the “Axis” and “Spider-Verse” events (among others).

Bathroom reading:Beyond Weird by Philip Ball, a book on quantum theory whose aim is to get past the “Wow, isn’t this weird!” stage and to work on demystification…to the extent that quantum theory can be demystified.

Kitchen reading: I always have a book in my kitchen for when I take a snack break during writing, or when I’m waiting for water to boil, or for all those other times when I’m in the kitchen with a few minutes to fill. At the moment, I’m reading Plant Biology by Alison M. Smith et al, because I don’t know nearly enough about botany. (Everybody should ask themselves what they don’t know enough about and then start correcting that omission.)

I live within fifteen minutes of two universities: the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. Both have stores where you can buy used textbooks for under $10 each. The books that go for such low prices aren’t the latest editions—they may be around five years old. But even in 2018, the introductory principles of various disciplines don’t change much in five years. If you buy a slightly old textbook, you still have an amazing resource as a starting place for learning a subject.

So I’ve bought first-year textbooks in dozens of fields, from anatomy and economics to Italian and microbiology. Wikipedia is certainly great for quick-and-dirty fact finding, especially when I already know the basics of a subject…but when I want to learn something from scratch or in depth, I love textbooks. They’re designed to teach topics in some rational order, where one thing builds on another. So I strongly recommend that everyone should make a trip to the nearest university campus and see what gems you can get for a surprisingly low price.

By the way, let me add one way that I use such books: I keep one in my kitchen. Whenever I’m taking a break from writing and go for a snack, I can read a few paragraphs while I’m munching. Also, when I’m cooking and waiting for water to boil or something like that, I can also read a bit. I like having something to read that I can pick up and put down without too much angst.

I’ve long been aware of Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud’s 1993 book on how comic books work. (The book also covers comic strips, manga, graphic novels, etc.) If you haven’t read it, rush out to your library and grab a copy now.

I was also aware of the follow-up, Reinventing Comics, published in 2000. It was McCloud’s attempt to nudge the creators of comics to aim higher and be more ambitious.

But I only recently discovered that he’d written a third book in 2006: Making Comics. I have no idea how I missed it…but I’m reading it now, and it’s full of great insights on how to create comic books that work. Highly recommended.

Tharp is a long-time dancer and choreographer, and this is her book about the creative process. As the title suggests, she recommends developing the habit of being creative, and she offers numerous ways to improve your creative process. I first read this book many years ago; now, as I’m rereading it, my creative juices have started bubbling fiercely.

I think of Warren Ellis as a comic book writer, but he also writes novels, screenplays, and a heck of a good weekly newsletter. Every posting talks about books that I’ve never heard of but immediately want to read. His Morning, Computer blog is also well worth following.

Freedom is an internet blocker, available for most operating systems. I use it on both my iPad and my Windows desktop. Freedom helps you avoid indulging your vices; I have it set up to prevent me from reading Twitter when I’m supposed to be writing, and from playing solitaire anytime after 10:30 at night. In other words, Freedom has willpower when I don’t. It lets me work and sleep when I want to, despite the addictive nature of the web.

In response to the recent death of Stan Lee, I’d like to say some things about Stan, and superhero comic books in general.

I’m old enough to have started reading comic books pre-Marvel: back when Batman was lighthearted (but not as silly as the 1960s TV show), and when Lois Lane was Superman’s girlfriend even though I can’t remember a single romantic moment between them. (Occasional issues had them getting married, but it always turned out to be fake or imaginary. Back then, they never kissed or even went out on dates. Later, their relationship became much richer; these days, I like it a lot. But when I first started reading comics, Lois only existed to get Superman in trouble.)

Then Stan Lee started Marvel, and the industry changed. He injected two priceless innovations into superhero comics: soap opera, and the soapbox.

By modern standards, Stan moved comic book characterization from zero-dimensional to one-dimensional. There was nothing subtle about Ben Grimm agonizing over his hideousness or Peter Parker smacked down by yet another horrible piece of bad luck. Most villains were complete numskulls; so were most police, army officers, politicians, and religious leaders.

But still, Stan Lee’s characters were more complex than elsewhere in the industry. We’d never seen anything like them. Not in comic books.

Characters actually had emotions and relationships. Sometimes, they got mad; sometimes, they were depressed; sometimes, they fell in love and actually did something about it.

Ben Grimm went over to Alicia Masters’ place on a regular basis—they ate dinner together and talked. Peter Parker went out on honest-to-goodness dates with Gwen Stacey and Mary Jane Watson. Sue Storm got ticked off with Reed Richards because he took her for granted, so she nearly had a fling with Prince Namor. (Maybe eventually, she did have a fling with Namor. I can imagine her looking into the camera and saying, “Whether I did or didn’t, it’s none of your business.”)

The characterization wasn’t subtle, but it was more than punching out bad guys. And it set the stage for decades of further evolution, in which comics did get subtle, at least sometimes.

Stan’s other innovation was the soapbox. Starting early in Marvel’s history, every comic had a page giving news about Marvel, and that page included Stan’s Soapbox: basically a monthly editorial column. Some of those columns are now legendary, denouncing racism and sexism, or urging kids and parents to have conversations about drugs.

Those editorials were far from revolutionary by modern standards—today we realize that racism and sexism are deeply systemic problems, not just overt misbehavior by people who are clearly “bad”—but at the time, Stan was applauded for going out on a limb. And remember, at the time, comics were still regarded as books for children.

But to me, the soapbox page was important for another reason: the page talked about comic book creators. I was old enough to know that superheroes weren’t real, but I hadn’t quite realized that the stories were made up by people. The soapbox page talked about the writers and artists as actual human beings making a living by inventing everything on the page.

Comics didn’t just happen—people made them. Sometimes there’d be photos of Stan, or Jack Kirby, or Steve Ditko, or Marie Severin working away at their desks. People made these books. Stan just sat down and invented new stories about Spider-Man. In fact, he invented the characters themselves (in conjunction with the artists, of course, but that’s a whole other topic).

The point is I realized that making up a stories was a thing you could do. Wow! And for that amazing revelation, let me thank the one and only Stan Lee.

They Promised Me The Gun Wasn’t Loaded is now available everywhere! I’ve been doing publicity stuff for the past little bit, including appearing at places like the World Fantasy convention…but I’m back and will start blogging again soon.

I’ll also be doing some guest blog appearances at other sites. More on that when the blogs appear. In the meantime, you can listen to me talk about the new book and a great deal else at Invaders from Planet 3, a podcast hosted by Robin Shantz. I had a lot of fun recording the session, and Robin asked a lot of great questions. I hope you’ll give it a listen.

By the way, a number of people have asked how they can support my books (besides buying a gazillion copies, of course). If you like my books, or the books of any other author, you can support them by posting reviews on Amazon as well as other book-related sites like GoodReads.

Just ranking books is good (e.g. giving a book 5 stars) but verbal reviews are even better. Such reviews don’t have to be long—even 10 words will make a difference—but verbal reviews really make an impression on the automatic algorithms that decide whether or not to recommend a book to other people.

So online reviews would be great…for my books or for the books of any author you like. Thanks!

First, I should emphasize it’s a standalone book. Yes, it’s a sequel to All Those Explosions Were Someone Else’s Fault, but it has its own beginning, middle and end. You don’t have to have read the first book, and I promise there won’t be a cliffhanger. A few ongoing threads are left to continue into future books of the series, but hey, that’s life. If I tied off every little problem by the final page, it wouldn’t be realistic.

So what’s the book about? In All Those Explosions, four science students at the University of Waterloo gain superpowers. As a result, stuff blows up, other stuff burns down, and maybe something bad happens to some rats.

But the heart of the book is one of the students dealing with personal baggage. Because here’s the thing: I think a novel should be about a pivotal moment in someone’s life. Someone should find themselves facing a situation that could take their life in new directions. What does that person actually choose? And then what happens because of their choice?

Explosions centers on one of the students, Kim Lam. Read the book and find out how gaining superpowers affects Kim’s life.

The new book, Gun, starts ten days after the end of Explosions. The action centers on Jools, a slightly self-sabotaging biology student. Before becoming super, Jools was in danger of flunking out from university. Now, however, her powers make her human-best at everything. She’s as strong as the best Olympic weight-lifter, as fast as the best Olympic sprinter, as medically skilled as the world’s best surgeon, and so on. She’s not superhumanly strong, fast, intelligent, etc., so she’s not going to win an arm-wrestling match with someone who has truly super muscles. However, she’s still as good as any human anywhere on anything.

What happens when a screw-up gets that kind of power? What happens when you used to be lost in all your classes, but now you know more than your professors? What happens when you’re suddenly really amazingly smart, but still in the habit of thinking you’re a dunce?

That’s the emotional heart of the story. Also there’s a supervillain’s gun (maybe) that many people want to steal, including the supervillain himself and a gang of outlaws modeled on Robin Hood and his men. Plus a bunch more explosions, killer wasps, a great train robbery, jellyfish underwear, and maybe dropping Sherwood Forest on top of Waterloo.

If that sounds interesting, I hope you’ll preorder the book from any of the standard online sites or your favorite bricks-and-mortar store. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!

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About Me

I'm an award-winning writer, editor and teacher of science fiction and fantasy. I've published nine novels and a host of short stories in leading SF&F outlets.
In addition to writing, I'm strongly interested in math and geology. In my spare time, I teach kung fu to kids and (unsuccessfully) to my rabbit.
And while you're here, why not donate to me on Patreon?